


Everything Changes

by Mayor_Ravioli



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: A+ Parenting, Because why the heck not?, Dorothea and Ferdinand go through their supports quickly, F/F, F/M, Just steal one from a song, Manakete!Ferdinand, Not, Those Who Slither in the Dark, When you are horrible with titles, because I want them to be FRIENDS gosh darn it, i really regret trying to post this on moble
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-20 17:17:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21285320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mayor_Ravioli/pseuds/Mayor_Ravioli
Summary: Growing older usually comes with some unique challenges, and Ferdinand is no different from anyone else. From figuring out how to make friends to struggling to survive a holy war, Ferdinand has his work cut out for him.Oh, and he can also turn into a dragon. There’s that too.
Relationships: Bernadetta von Varley/Happiness, Caspar von Bergliez/Linhardt von Hevring, Dorothea Arnault/Petra Macneary, Edelgard von Hresvelg/Lysithea von Ordelia, Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra, Manuela Casagranda/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 8
Kudos: 86





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve had a few Ferdinand centric fanfic ideas going through my head for awhile, and I like how in each of them, I’ve just been trying my best to make Ferdinand’s father as awful as I can.

Duke Calvin von Aegir believed himself to be a very clever, and ambitious man. Having inherited control over House Aegir upon his father’s passing, as well as the title of Prime Minister Duke Aegir knew all too well that what he had inherited was not enough for a man as great as himself. The lands of Aegir were far too small, and the amount of wealth his forefathers had gathered was a pitifully laughable amount. And these were things he intended to right. 

His first act as Duke Aegir had been to marry the only child of a neighboring noble family. With their marriage, Duke Aegir was able to add her family’s land onto his own, as well as taking her family’s wealth upon her fathers… Unfortunate passing. 

Another thing Aegir was unsatisfied with was the lack of power he held. While he did hold power over his expanding territory, not to mention holding one of the higheset offices in the Empire, that power was not enough. But luckily for Duke Aegir, he was well aware of what would make him satisfied when it came to power. All he needed was to gain control over the Emperor himself. 

To some people, this would seemingly be impossible. But Duke Aegir was not a man to quit when things got tough. Instead, he managed to contact a strange group of people that would be able to help him gain the power he so rightfully deserved. And the only thing they asked for in return, were test subjects. Which was a currency Duke Aegir had in abundance. After all, who would notice if the inhabitants of a small, insignificant village suddenly disappeared? 

There was one other thing that Duke Aegir needed to be satisfied with the power he held. And that thing, was a crest. His family once held a crest, but that had been many, many years ago, as no one in his house had held a crest for half a century. And unfortunately, the situation was near the same for his wife’s family. But he knew he needed a crest in the family, for a crest was a sign of power for a family. 

It was far too late for Duke Aegir himself to get a crest, but if he were to have a heir with one… Well, it would generally have the same effect as if the Duke was the one with it. 

And as luck would have it, his allies just so happened to be experimenting with adding crests onto a person. However, the procedure had not yet been perfected, and even putting a minor crest into a person was a high risk of death. But Duke Aegir and his wife both agreed that having a child with a crest, even a minor one, was worth however many of their children perished in the process of implementing one. 

And so his wife gave birth to a daughter, and they handed the baby over to Duke Aegir’s allies while she was still covered in blood from her birth. A few weeks later, she was brought back in a box and buried in a nameless grave. The next year, his wife once again gave birth to a baby girl that was handed over to the group. This time it took them a few months, before they once again returned a box to be buried and forgotten in a nameless grave. And this was a pattern that just kept repeating itself. Lady Aegir would give birth to a baby girl, that baby would be turned over to the Duke’s allies in hopes that they would be able to give her a crest. Only for a box with a corpse to be returned to them instead weeks or months after. 

Eventually Lady Aegir began to grow frustrated from constantly giving birth to children that would not last even a year. And upon giving birth to their sixth child, this one being their first boy, she claimed that he was going to be her last. And if Duke Aegir wanted anymore children he was going to have to turn to concubines and mistresses for them. 

Closing in on nearly a year since that child had been born, Duke Aegir had been sitting in his office dealing with paperwork when there was a knock on his door. Looking for any excuse to not do his work, Duke Aegir had eagerly pushed aside the documents, clearing out his throat as he reached out for his cup of brandy that was on his desk.

“Come in.” 

The door opened, and in walked a figured covered in a black cloak. Duke Aegir instantly found himself sitting straighter, setting down his glass when he noticed that for once the person coming to him wasn’t holding a box, but instead a basket covered in a cloth.The hooded figured set down the basket on one of the chairs in the office, and removed his hood to reveal a familiar face. 

“Ah, Lord Arundel,” Duke Aegir greeted, his orange eyes darting between the man and the basket he had set on an empty chair. “What a pleasant surprise, safe travels I hope?”

Lord Arundel, a noble who had recently risen to status upon his sister’s marriage to the empire, or at least the creature bearing the man’s face, nodded. “I was blessed with perfect traveling weather for my trip from my manor to years.” He informed Duke Aegir, before placing a hand onto the handle on the basket.

“And our little… project?” Duke Aegir questioned, his hungry eyes following Lord Arundel’s movements. “Has it born fruit?”

Lord Arundel nodded, “It has, as well as producing a rather… Unexpected outcome.”

At that, Duke Aegir’s head shot up to meet Lord Arundel’s eyes. “What do you mean?”

“We recently gained some resources from a new… doner.” Lord Arundel explained, “And, well… Those resources produced an… Interesting side effect.” 

“Side effect?” Duke Aegir repeated.

Instead of answered Lord Arundel shrugged slightly, tilting his head towards the basket in an invintation that Duke Aegir accepted.

Yanking the blanket away, Duke Aegir found a (breathing) baby with a head full of enough orange hair to make the Duke envious. Other than the surprise at seeing a rather large amount of hair for an infant that hadn’t even reached the age of one yet, Duke Aegir didn’t see anything that could classify as whatever the mysterious “side effect” Lord Arundel was talking about was. 

As if he could sense the Duke’s confusion, Arundel walked over to the basket, leaning down he brushed away some of the child’s orange locks away from his ear. 

His…  _ pointed  _ ear.

“Wha- What the Hell did you do?” Duke Aegir demanded, turning his attention away from the baby to Lord Arundel. For his part, the other man didn’t tear his eyes away from the child, instead staring intently down towards him with eyes full of some sort of hunger. 

“A Manakete.” Lord Arundel answered, “Somehow the blood we used to give this child a crest also turned him into a Manakete.” He shook his head with a laugh, “The transformation was quite the show. I still don’t understand how anyone, much less an infant, could’ve survived something like  _ that. _ We really must contact Solon for a bigger sample of that blood, the possibilities…”

“What the Hell is a Manakete?” Duke Aegir interrupted, not at all understanding what was going on. 

As if he had just remembered Duke Aegir’s existence, Lord Arundel reluctantly tore his eyes away from the child to meet Aegir’s. “A Manakete is a  _ dragon.”  _ Lord Arundel explained, “A creature that can switch from dragon form to a human, they are extremely rare, powerful, and  _ valuable.” _

“I see,” Duke Aegir said, as he looked back towards his child. “And the Crest?”

“The minor Crest of Cichol.” Lord Arundel answered, “Crest or not, we will understand if this certain… Side effect is not to your liking. If you wish we would be more than glad to take him if you so choose to-“

“No.” Duke Aegir interrupted, “My wife has already stated she will not longer birth anymore children. Freak or not, I feel a legitimate heir will be better than a bastard heir. No matter the… work arounds.”

“Understood, in that case I will take my leave.” Lord Arundel nodded, “I wish you well, Duke Aegir.”

Instead of answering, the Duke simply waved the other man off. Staring down towards his son as he tried best to figure out how to go on from there.


	2. Rosamunde

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosamunde was well aware of the fact that there was something not quite normal going on with her young charge, and she was going to figure out what that was

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so difficult to write, and I don’t know why. But it’s here now, thank Sothis.

Rosamunde Godfrey’s family has been in the service of the Aegir family for as long as anyone could remember. And as a mother six times over, most of her own children served the house as well. (With only her eldest daughter having left to become a traveling merchant.) 

And with the impressive resume of being able to get six children to live to adulthood, she had found herself becoming the nursemaid to the Duke’s heir.

It was a job she took great pride and joy in. For, despite the fact that she went through the trouble of raising six children, she still was fond of them. Though, when she was offered the job she, found that it wasn’t quite what she was expecting.

The summons had been surprising, and the offer even more so. Everyone in the manor were well aware of the Aegir’s struggles with children. While the Lady has given birth to a number of children, all were born so ill that they had to be sent away to be constantly monitored by a physician. But no matter what, none had lived more than a year. At the time Rosamunde had heard no word that the last child they had, had in fact beaten the illness that had taken his siblings too young. It was an event worth celebrating in her book, and yet there had not been at least some sort of announcement of his survival. 

But when Lady Aegir had offered her the chance to be the child’s nursemaid she had accepted instantly. (Raising a child was infinitely better than working in kitchen in Rosamunde’s opinion.)

And with her agreement, Lady Aegir had left the child in Rosamunde’s care. Only telling her his name, adding in the request of “Try and make sure he’s somewhat normal” before she left. (And that was the first and only time Rosamunde had seen the Lady show any type of motherly care (if you could call it that ) towards her own son.)

At first she didn't have any idea what that sort of request meant. After all, the child wasn’t even a year old at the time. But one look at him showed her what Lady Aegir’s words meant.

The first notable thing about him was his ears. The tips of his ears ending in an inhuman point, and they were quite a bit larger than a normal ear as well. Though luckily they weren’t too large, so the tips could easily be hidden by the child’s hair. (The amount of hair he had when not even a year old was impressive.)

Though less noticeable than his ears, the child’s eyes were also a thing to note. While the same orange as Duke Aegir’s eyes, they were strangely bright. Though not bright enough that it would cause a person to notice if they weren’t looking. It wasn’t just the brightness of his eyes that were strange either, for his pupils resembled those of a cat far more than those of a human. With the black being a vertical slit that enlarged itself in the dark.

All and all, the Duke’s son was strange indeed. So Rosamunde supposed Lady Aegir did have some merit when she demanded Rosamunde to “make him normal.” Though she didn’t understand where his… strangeness came from. He was quite obviously his parent’s son, as he had his father’s hair and eye colors, and his mother’s… everything else. So it couldn’t have been a result of infidelity. (Though that wouldn’t have been surprising, it was no secret amongst the staff that Duke and Lady Aegir held no love for the other, and chose to spend their time with mistresses and servants for their… enjoyment. As a happily married woman, Rosamunde couldn’t help but pity the two of them.

It was that curiosity that made Rosamunde pen her eldest daughter, asking the woman to look around for the very traits Rosamunde’s new charge showed. With her being a merchant, her daughter most certainly would have better luck figuring out what had happened to the child. Rosamunde hopes that she would be able to, especially since Rosamunde herself had no means not time to look into it herself.

She did have a job to do after all. 

* * *

_ To my dearest Mother _

_ How are things going back home, I trust you are doing well? I was most glad to receive news that the herbs I sent for your back pains worked perfectly, so please write to me once you are in need of anymore.  _

_ As much as I would love to just write to you for the sake of writing, and you are already aware that I do. Truthfully I was writing this in regards to a request you made some years ago. I had gone just about everywhere this world had to offer, and a kindly old gentleman recognized the many symptoms your charge has been showing. He was even able to direct me to someone who was more familiar with said symptoms. _

_ I invited her to come with me back to Enbarr on the 15th of the Harpspring Moon, and she’s more than happy to take a look at the boy to see if their assumption is correct. The noble who so kindly sponsored my interest in the world of merchants is allowing me to stay at his vacation manor in the city. I have the address written down, and I can’t wait to see you again. It’s been far too long. _

_ With love, _

_ Your daughter, Eponine  _

Rosamunde set down the letter her daughter had sent her, gently folding it back into shape so that it may once more fit snuggly into its envelope.

Finally.

It had been so long that she had begun to think they would never figure out what had happened to Ferdinand. He had only just recently turned nine years old, and those nine years had only brought more strange accuracies and traits along with them. But now… Now she finally had a lead, this girl Eponine was planning on bringing with her. Rosamunde could only send prayers to the Goddess, hoping that this girl would have the answers. 

As the years had gone by, Ferdinand himself had begun to grow and grow more aware of the fact that he wasn’t normal. And Rosamunde hated seeing the usually bright and cheerful child she had raised (with no credit going towards his actual parents) so lost and unsure about himself whenever he would question what was wrong with him. Rosamunde wanted to give him answers, she wanted to figure out what had been done to him. (Because whatever was going on with him, it most certainly wasn’t something he was born with it.)

And now, those very answers were in her grasp.

**Author's Note:**

> Y’know with Hanneman’s emphasis on how rare the Crest of Cichol is, not to mention Ferdinand’s introduction as the “eldest son” got me thinking...  
Also for those interested in the meaning behind names, I suggest looking up what the name I gave to Duke Aegir means. I thought it was fitting. :)


End file.
